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bank of the ditch, the side from which he set out. The body should be kept near the pole, and the swing must be carefully given, lest, by pulling the pole in a direction lateral to the ditch, you should fall sideways into the ditch. The spring and the fixing of the pole must be made at the same moment, as otherwise the swing is not so strongly made; and, in proportion as he becomes more expert, the leaper may advance his hands higher up the pole, and thereby have a more powerful swing. The feet should be stretched out as far as possible to reach the opposite bank, and if this should be lower than the one from which the leap is taken, the hands should be slid down the pole while in the act of leaping. This exercise is very common in Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and the other fen counties which abound with dykes; but it is there common to throw the body strongly against the pole, and, letting it pass between the legs, to ride over, as it were, upon it.

7. The high leap with a pole greatly resembles the preceding one, except that, the sweep being smaller, the hands must be more raised, and the legs quickly turned, to prevent their coming in contact with the cord. The left hand should grasp the pole at the same distance from the bottom that the cord is from the ground. The pole is not always fixed at the same distance in front of the stand, but further, in proportion to the height of the leap. The swinging upward is principally effected by the force of the spring as connected with the quick motion occasioned by the run, which, being suddenly checked by the fixing of the pole, changes its horizontal direction to one of a slanting ascent, and thus carries the body of the leaper over the cord or cane. At the same time the leaper must observe to fix the pole right before him, and not either to the right or left, as otherwise the force of the run will throw him from the pole. The best criterion of a good leap is, that the pupil descend in an equal balance to the ground, that is to say, he is not compelled to run backward to keep himself from falling, which is too often the case. The descent should take place on the balls of the toes, and the knees should be slackened to prevent any shock.

VAULTING, or the art of leaping over an object with the assistance of the hands, requires next to be attended to.-This is performed by placing the hands on the wall, bar, or gate, over or upon which you vault, and at the same time giving a spring; swinging yourself round, and descending with your face towards the object. The leaning of the hands not only gives direction to, but considerably assists the swing, and thereby augments the muscular power of the arms, shoulders, &c., as well as of the legs. In order that this exercise may be practised with ease and safety, wooden horses, whose sides and backs are commonly stuffed with wool, and covered with leather, are to be erected in the gymnasium. 1. The pupil places himself in front of the horse, makes one preparatory leap, and then, fixing both hands on it and springing up, throws his right leg over: the body is then suspended by the support of the hands, and descends gradually to the riding position. In order to dismount, the rider swings himself on his hands, first forward and then

backward, and then, closing his feet, throws them both over to the ground. A person may soon learn to mount a horse of any size in this manner. Vaulting over the horse ought to be frequently practised, as it is applicable in so many instances. With a short run a person may soon learn to throw himself over the height of his chest, and, by shifting the hands, over a very broad table. Vaulting on, in a standing position, is performed with a short run; the pupil then places his hands at a little distance from one another on the object, and, at the same time, leaping up, draws his knees forcibly towards his breast, so that the feet come up between the hands; the gymnast then, quitting the horse with his hands, stands upright. If he wish to seat himself sideways on the horse, he need only, instead of standing, continue to throw forward his feet, and he will be able to seat himself on the saddle; or, should he still continue his leap, he will go over the horse straight forward.

SWINGING ON THE BAR.-This, though an exercise not so directly applicable to the accidents of active life as leaping, vaulting, or climbing, greatly augments the muscular power of the body, and must never be omitted in the gymnasium. Bars should therefore be erected similar to those shown in Plate III. GYMNASTICS, and if possible they should be under cover from the rain and the sun. In order to construct these stands, erect two strong posts (a and b, fig. 4), about six feet high and eighteen feet asunder, and on the top of them fix a thick transverse beam, rounded at the top to give a more easy grasp to the hand. Then fix three upright posts c, c, c, about five feet in height, and on them, in conjunction with the post b, fasten two other transverse poles d, d, at the distance of about three feet from one another. You will then have the single bar A, and the double bars B, as represented in the plate. The exercises on these bars are so various that we cannot be expected to describe them in detail. On the double bars the principal ones are performed, either by raising the body on the two hands as the pupil is represented doing, B, Plate III., or by swinging along them, or lowering and raising himself by degrees, by the strength of his arms only. On the single bar the most difficult is the seizing the bar with both the hands on the same side and raising the body by pulling upward, the feet being meanwhile closed and hanging down. This exercise is very fatiguing, and, though many persons will go through it nine or ten times successively, twenty times will tire the strongest man. Hanging by the arms and legs, or by the arms or legs alone, and swinging in different ways round the bar, are the other exercises on this bar. They should, indeed, never be neglected, as they greatly facilitate the gymnast's progress in the following exercise.

CLIMBING. The uses and advantages of this art are too evident to need any particularisation. In order to practise it in all its varieties, different kinds of stands or scaffolds have been recommended. The best is recommended in a work entitled Instructions in all kinds of Gymnastic Exercises, by a Military Officer. Plate I. represents this stand, with all its appurtenances. It

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